Turn 37: Let there be Gifts!
~Tradebridge Castle~
With everything in the castle appearing to be running as planned,
Rabble locked himself in his quarters with his newly acquired book. Paging through the blackened pages, he found a section that captured his interest. Some of the text had been lost, but much had also been preserved.
Flow
Common to Inspirational Magick, and central to any scholar’s ability to identify its many shapes in practice, is the idea of Flow. Flow has been described by different scholars in different ways, often reflecting the leanings of the author as much as or more so than the actual reality of its practice. For example, the Bloodmage Namon Shade the definition of Flow as “a state of being in which the caster connects to the vital forces flowing through him and his subject, allowing himself to be consumed in its swirls and eddies. In this state, the caster achieves concentration sufficient to disturb these currents, leading to the manifestation of his will.” On the other hand, the Knight Scholar Maerwynn of the Summer suggested Flow consists of “a commitment of the will to the justness of the cause at hand.” Religiously inclined individuals, such as Mehmonar of Xaria, of write of Flow as involving submission the higher will which they worship. All of these definitions contain elements of truth, though it can easily be seen that the writers overcommit to their own practices. These definitions all hint at the commitment of will and feeling of surrender which come along with practicing magick. The individuals own will seems to transcend them. This element of transcendence is particularly common in spells that require multiple participants. Individuality temporarily dissolves, and a common will predominates the process.
Interactions (This section is missing more than half of its text, due to fire)
Besides the state achieved by practicing individuals, Inspirational magick can also be identified by the way in which it interacts with other magicks. Arcane objects often… primarily detected through Magifluid… utilized as coinitiators… Divine beings occasionally susceptible… Imps, Oaorchs, and Situebroa disrupt… Lesser alchemy enhance… individual responses… runes and ancient languages… disputed effect.
(Several pages are missing here, and the few words on the final page suggests it is discussing the Earthmovers of Ern)
Group Magicks (Some text missing)
Groups inspirational magick can often be particularly powerful, if difficult to manage. Every individual involved must be completely committed to the spell, or it is doomed to fail. Additionally, disruption may be… though it may be reversible. For this reason, care must be taken.
Finding individuals genuinely committed to the form of magick being practiced often makes the practice of spells prohibitive, and makes them difficult to study. In addition, many of the societies which form around these practices are hostile towards outsiders. Often for justified reasons. Persecution… dwindling numbers… disappearing societies…
Fortunately, a relatively easily replicated ritual has been identified. In the Tamap swamp there resides group who have spiritually devoted themselves to a pure life. Their mandates demand that they forgo meat, as well as a number of “lower” plants. This is problematic for their diet because the swamp offers up relatively little in the way of edible plants, and is poorly suited to cultivation. The Tamapian people found, at some point, a ritual which allows them to cultivate much more from the land. Flow is induced in participating individuals by drinking water laced with Lady’s Bell root, a swamp plant with red conical flowers and a distinctive, and poisonous, red/purple root. When boiled over the course of a day the root loses its color, and becomes edible. The liquid is then diluted until nearly clear. The participants, seven in number, form a circle and each sip from the liquid while chanting to direct their focus. It has been demonstrated the content of the chant is of little importance, and it seems to be a device to help bring the participants together. The effects of the drink will soon become apparent… planewalking… focus maintained… linger… purpose apparent… Even successful attempts often result in some discomfort.
Rabble was considering the possibility promised by the text when he heard a knock at the door. The scullery maid called
”Lord, I’m sorry to disturb you but a messenger is here. He says he was sent by Count Bryce. Dressed up real pretty, he is.”Loyalty: Rabble Rall (Content)
Occupants: 3 Castle Staff, 1 Mason, 4 Guards, 5 Guard Recruits, 1 Initiate, 5 Men, 10 Women and Children
Hostages/Prisoners: The Baron, 1 Guard
Food Stores: 16 Barrels of Beer, 4 Sacks of Coarse Grain, 8 Sacks of Coarse Flour, Three Quarters a Crate of Hardtack (Ration length: Unknown)
Assets: Marketplace, Armory, Guard Barracks, Small Temple
~Barkamsted~
Lork walked further, alert for any danger. He was met with empty rooms, most laid out for sleeping. Cave walls were blackened by smoke, and meagre bedding was laid to keep the sleeper off of the floor, but otherwise there was little sign of inhabitance. Lork was given time to reflect on his earlier attempts at using his fists and feet as weapons. As he came back to where the bandits lay he came to the realization that the men did not merely use weapons, they
were weapons. At least, in a vague sense. They simply didn’t realize it. But Lork did; he could be a weapon himself. And so he stumbled on to the central tenant of Tsa-Qaik.
+1 Tsa-Qaik (Martial Art) Eliza looked over the bodies again, and noticed most of the cuts on those who had only one were delivered by very small blades. When the blood was cleared away enough to see the wound itself, what was left was a thin and short cut which was clean, and looked to be very deep. Her own sword would have left a much thicker and longer line, and no doubt a more jagged cut. She wondered if she could thrust straight enough to perform such an attack, and with a small amount of practice she found her sword was much more natural coming off the end of her arm.
+1 Swordswoman Jongo kept himself ready for a threat which never materialized. Soon he grew bored and walked through the cave, following Lork’s path. He was staring down at the straw that made up one of the beds, wishing it would do something, and kicked out at is. He heard a clang of metal and pulled out two swords. Strong and true iron, they were far from ornate, but would serve their purpose well. At the base of each blade were the letters SB in a circle.
Xaver noticed faint bruising on those individuals with multiple wounds, both around some of the wounds as well as in other spots around their torso’s. Turning the bandits over, many of them had small cuts on their heads or backs, but nothing deep, and there was not clear pattern as to who had these marks. Xaver tried to replicate what could have happened to all of these men by imagining situations in which he was attacked and how he would block. He reasoned his way both to a number of a useful blocks with his sword and the fact that these men did relatively little to defend themselves, and were killed quite suddenly.
+1 Swordsman Orcus wandered through the swamp, looking for more vegetation to punish, when he heard a light giggling. The noise drifted from near to far and back again in a way that thoroughly disoriented him, but also drew him in. He followed the sound until he heard a cracking sound, and roots twining around each other burst from the ground, growing to nearly the height of a man. The earth atop them crubbled off slowly, revealing a block of stone which was secured by thin tendrils of root growing through it and around it. As he watched the roots broke off of whatever structure lay beneath the surface, and the massive hammer fell over onto the soft murk of the swamp. ((You’re going to have to name this thing, because I can’t describe it everytime you hit something.
))
Loyal to Rabble: 2 Guards, 17 men (armed), 1 man (unarmed, dead)
Mood: Triumphant
Bandits: 13 Bandits (9 Unconscious, 1 Dead, 3 Surrendered), 2 Bandits (Armored) (1 Surrendered, 1 Unconscious)
~FDRP~
Cortis inquired after Dave and his workers.
”No, these men work for themselves. You showed us being in charge doesn’t mean dictating every man’s action. This village, it has nothing to give them for their work. But they are earning their own security, and so we have plenty of volunteers. You on the other hand. What you have done, for me and for the people of FDRP, cannot go unrequited. Take this bow as a gift. I used to be a hunter, but there’s little time for that now, nor game to hunt.”Loyalty: Mayor David (NPC)
Food Stores: Nonexistent (decentralized)
Assets: Blacksmith, Timber
All gifts have been given.
((Congrats, yeah. Also, I'm pretty sure Bomrek's player didn't post my action, and doesn't even have a hammer. Not that it matters much.))
Yeah, totally my bad. Was flipping back and forth between character sheets and the post, and my brain grabbed the wrong name.
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Topic: Simple Folk of Erioth Stage III: Improving the Barreny: Turn 47 (Read 68742 times)